School Without Hope
by SamiWami
Summary: Period boarding school AU between the Doctor and the Master. After his home and everyone he knows burning tragically, the Doctor secures new employment at a prestigious boys' school. But can he survive the prickly school Master? Or will he get more than he bargained for?
1. Chapter 1

He stepped off the carriage, bag clutched in one hand and the other holding books to his chest. He squinted through the blinding sunlight, looking up at the large boarding house in front of him. A new location. A new start. Just what he needed after the burning of his home.

Shoving the memories back into a dark corner of his mind, he mounted the steps. He had to lean his whole frame into the heavy door, but it creaked open, and he nearly tumbled inside head first.

The cool air of the school house was such a contrast to the heat outside that he stopped.

"Doctor Smith?" he spun around, eyes falling on a small brunette woman.

"Yes, hello." He forced his face into a smile that still came off as slightly nervous, stepping towards her and shuffling the things in his arms so that he could hold a hand out to her. She took it lightly.

"The schoolmaster has been waiting for you to arrive. If you would not mind following me?" She didn't wait for a response as she turned and headed up the winding staircase.

She didn't say anything to him or even try to break the silence as they wound their way through the empty building. He couldn't help but wonder where the children were; surely with a school as prestigious and large as this, there would be some noise from the students.

"Excuse me, Miss, ah, I didn't quite catch your name."

She paused to look at him then, really look at him. "Chantho. Sarah Chantho."

"Such a unique name!" he commented with a smile, happy to get her to respond.

"My parents were ambassadors in the Asian countries." And just like that, she was turning away from him and leading him back down the echoing hallway.

Every door they had passed looked the exact same, so when she came to a stop finally, he was completely lost. He wouldn't have been able to find his way to the exit if he tried.

Miss Chantho rapped lightly on the door, pausing to hear a word of acceptance before she pushed it open and stepped back to let him into the room.

A man in dark clothing with hair lighter than his own sat behind the desk, not even looking up as the door clicked closed behind him. "So, you must be the Doctor." He finally paused from the paper he'd been scanning.

The Doctor's smile slipped away at the cold, hard look the schoolmaster was giving him. He was overcome with a sudden urge to run, to get out of the building, to get far away from him. But… there was the slight problem of not knowing how to get to the front door.

Instead he stayed where he was, staring down the man in a similar fashion. "You must be the Master of this establishment. I have to thank you for giving me the position here."

The Master leaned back in his chair, eyeing the Doctor up and down. "I didn't. You'll have to thank Miss Chantho for that. She insists that you're the best doctor in the country. We needed an expert. I suppose we shall have to settle for you."

The Doctor felt his face reddening, and his grip tightened on the bag still in his hand. But he kept his mouth shut tight as they glared at each other.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been easy to get settled. He never carried much with him, rarely more than could fit in his coat pockets. The room he'd been given had more space than he knew what to do with. He supposed he'd have to go into town and purchase new clothes eventually; he doubted the school Master would appreciate him wandering the halls of the school in the same outfit week after week.

And the boys—oh the boys! They had been nothing but polite and kind to him. Of course, it's what he should have expected, being raised by the fashionable parents they had and attending this school with as feared a Master as the one that resided here. They were a bit reserved, slow to volunteer themselves, but he could tell that there was a wealth of intelligence in some of them.

He'd handled hardly anything more than the occasional bump or scraped knee. Even those were few and far between; the boys rarely went outside, and he saw them playing even less. They stayed in their rooms, classrooms, and libraries, pouring over endless tomes and volumes.

So when a curt knock sounded on his door one day, he jumped in shock. He was across the room in a dozen strides. He pulled the door open and saw Miss Chantho standing in his doorway. She dropped a quick curtsy to him. "Good morn, Doctor. I hope I have not awakened you? The Master has sent me to request you join him for this morning's meal."

His face automatically flushed at the mention of the other man, but he smiled back at her, even if he did bare a little too much teeth. "I would be delighted, of course." She curtsied once more to him and turned to hurry away. "Miss Chantho, if I may for a moment," he called after her, automatically taking a step forward. She stopped, but did not turn to face him.

"Don't…. Don't you ever just… have a conversation? Does the Master have your schedule so full you have no time to yourself? Do you ever just… skip an appointment to take a bit of time to yourself?"

She turned to face him, and her eyes were wide. "Oh, no, I could never! That would be rude!"

He grinned back at her, leaning against the door jam. "Why not, just every now and then? I have to go out to town in the morn. Perhaps you could come with?"

She bit her lip, fighting a smile. "I… I don't know."

"I'll be in the foyer at promptly ten in the morning. If you would like to accompany me to town, I will see you then." He turned to close the door, and when he turned back, she was scurrying away.

His smile slipped away as he remembered where he was supposed to be. He slumped down the hall to the Master's office, unable to think where else he would take his breakfast except his large, pretentious office.

He knocked on the door, but no sound answered him. He waited a moment before he knocked again. If he couldn't find him, maybe he wouldn't have to eat with him. Maybe he could sneak down to the kitchen and have his meal conversing and laughing with the cook as usual. Maybe—

His thought's cut off as the Master rounded the corner, looking at him in surprise. "Doctor?"

"Master." The Doctor nodded to him. "I received your… invitation to breakfast."

That condescending smirk the Master never seemed complete without was back on his face. "I do not take my meals in my office, Doctor. It is a place for business."

"Yes, of course," the Doctor responded with a slightly apologetic, but more exasperated tone.

"The sun room is this way. Come along." He headed back the way he had come from without pausing to wait for him.

He gritted his teeth at being treated like a house pet, but followed anyways. He'd never noticed the small alcove before, and it made him pause for a moment. Floor to ceiling windows looked over the grounds and trees of the property. It would be a lovely place to sit and read or paint or write for hours; but the Doctor had a sinking feeling that the Master used it more to maintain his hawkish watch on the boys than any more enjoyable endeavors.

"Have a seat," the Master instructed, waving to the other chair across from him at the small table. The Doctor couldn't help but feeling like he was in trouble and sent to the schoolmaster's office for a talking-to.

"How are you settling in?" the Master asked, not even looking at him as he set into his meal.

"Fine, thank you." The Doctor nodded stiffly to him before picking up his fork. The Master glanced briefly up at him, eyebrow arched in condescension. The Doctor held in a sigh. He would get nowhere with the man if they both continued to be this tense. The Doctor was naturally open and friendly with people; being this on edge was giving him a splitting headache behind his eyes. "I think I will take my off-hours tomorrow to go into town for a spell and pick up a few new things."

"You did arrive with a shocking lack of anything showing your station. If I didn't know better, I would think you were a common man before coming to this house."

Images flashed behind the Doctor's mind, images of a burning house, so many family dead, everything he owned outside of his worn case taken away from him. His grip tightened on his fork and he shook his head to dislodge the images. He forced a smile onto his face, one faked and frozen as the Master's was cold and cruel. "I recently lost many possessions to an unfortunate incident. I shall start gathering items more… appropriate to my station as soon as possible."

"See that you do," the Master sneered. They fell into silence, the Doctor pointedly staring at the table while the Master continued to eye him. "And what of your family, Doctor? Is there no estate where you would be better suited to reside? No missus to keep your suite to her liking?"

"Not anymore," he responded quietly into his plate.

The Master's eyes never wavered from him. Slowly he sat back from his finished meal, staring down the Doctor. "Where did you begin your education, Doctor? Was it a private tutor?"

Confused by the abrupt turn of conversation, the Doctor finally looked up at him. He shook his head. "No, I was a student of Prydon Academy for many years. I learned quite a few things there, but I lost touch with all of my peers as I started travelling after my time there."

The Master's eyes never flinched from him, never wavered, and he had a shuddering feeling that there was something he was supposed to be remembering.

It ended as the Master stood, folding his hands behind his back and nodding carelessly to the Doctor. He turned away, and said to the door, "See that you continue your work here, and do not interfere with any of mine." The door clicked closed behind him, leaving the Doctor alone, confused, and more than a little weary.


End file.
